Cleaning procedures and cleanliness assessments of bucket milkers and suckling buckets on Japanese dairy farms

Abstract

Cleanliness of milking equipment is known to be important for the safety of dairy products and to prevent the spread of diseases among cows. We investigated the cleaning procedures of milking equipment and suckling equipment on Japanese dairy farms, and the cleanliness of bucket milkers, suckling buckets, milk receivers, and bulk tanks, using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence test. Bulk tanks (except one bulk tank) and milk receivers were washed by automated cleaning, but all bucket milkers and suckling buckets were washed by manual cleaning. Detergents were often not used to clean bucket milkers and suckling buckets. The log 10 transformed relative luminescence units (LRLU) of equipment washed by manual cleaning was higher than equipment washed by automated cleaning. Clean surfaces (≤2.2 LRLU) were only observed on the bulk tank and the milk receiver. More than 50% of the LRLU of the mouthpiece, the rubber packing of claw, and the nipple of the suckling bucket were determined dirty. These results suggest that the cleanliness of the bucket milkers and the suckling buckets washed by manual cleaning was lower than that of the equipment washed by automated cleaning, and may be due to insufficient cleaning procedures.

Hygiene Assessment of Buffalo Milking Parlours in Campania Region, Italy: A Preliminary Study by Using ATP Luminometry and Bacteriological Investigation

“…The cleanliness of the milking parlour and milking equipment represent a relevant aspect of the dairy industry since it can directly affect the bacteriological quality of raw milk, milking process performances, and also the dairy animals’ health [ 1 , 2 ]. Indeed, to control diseases and improve animal welfare, dairy farms have adopted standard cleaning practices to avoid the spread of opportunistic and/or pathogenic bacteria from one animal to the next during milking shifts [ 2 , 3 ].…”

“…The cleanliness of the milking parlour and milking equipment represent a relevant aspect of the dairy industry since it can directly affect the bacteriological quality of raw milk, milking process performances, and also the dairy animals’ health [ 1 , 2 ]. Indeed, to control diseases and improve animal welfare, dairy farms have adopted standard cleaning practices to avoid the spread of opportunistic and/or pathogenic bacteria from one animal to the next during milking shifts [ 2 , 3 ]. Despite this, bacterial contamination of the milking parlour surface and equipment still represents a critical point in the management of dairy farms, as the effectiveness of cleaning procedures can be influenced by several factors such as water quantity and temperature, the type and concentration of the detergent, and equipment maintenance [ 4 ].…”

“…Thus, ATP bioluminescence represents a good complement when it is important to obtain results quickly [ 8 ]. In light of the drawbacks of the previously described methods, ATP bioluminescence technology has been implemented in the dairy industry and in swine farms in recent years [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], since the rapid assessment of ATP on surfaces and equipment has been described as an indirect, rapid, and easy-to-use on-farm tool to detect and quantify the bacterial contamination and to check the effectiveness of adopted cleaning practices [ 12 ].…”